Means for locating railway hopper car closure locking mechanism



J. T. SMITH Feb. 18, 1964 MEANS FOR LOCATING RAILWAY HOPPER CAR CLOSURE LOCKING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 22, 1959 INVENTOR.

Feb. 18, 1964 J. T. SMITH 3,121,404 MEANS FOR LocATING RAILWAY HOPPER CAR cLosURE LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 22, 1959 y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 11W/Emme.1 maf M2232.

United States Patent O This invention relates to locking mechanisms for railway hopper car doors and more particularly to a novel anism of the type disclosed application, Serial No. 774,383, iiled Nov. 17, 1958, in the United States Patent Oiiice, and reference to said application is hereby made for complete description and drawings of the locking mechanism to which the invention of the present application is applied. It will be understood that the invention is equally applicable to locking mechanisms of prior art forms.

According to prior art practices, such a locking mechanism has been mounted on the car and has required one or more adjustments after each trial locking operation until the locking mechanism and the locking lug or keeper of the door were in proper relationship, whereupon the locking mechanism was permanently xed to the car in proper position to lock the door in completely closed position.

This procedure has not only been time consuming and costly but has been unsatisfactory due to the factor of human error. The present invention completely overcomes these difficulties.

A primary object of the necessity for adjusting the anism on the car.

A further object of the invention is to make a single adjustment of the keeper on the door to ensure that the door is completely closed in locked position of the locking mechanism.

A more specific object of the invention slideable mounting on the door for the latter is slideable away from the invention is to eliminate the position of the locking mechis to afford a the keeper so that door.

release of the wedge.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE l is a fragmentary side elevational View of a railway hopper c-ar with the invention `applied thereto, the locking mechanism being shown in locked position and the hopper door to the keeper preparatory to removal of the wedge, if desired;

FIGURE 2 is -a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE l except that the latching element is not sho-wn, with portions of the structure in vertical section Kand with the door in partly open position preparatory to driving of the wedge to close the door;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the keeper;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational View of the keeper;

FIGURE S is a front elevational View taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE l, with the wedge removed;

FIGURE 6 is a plan View of the looking mechanism with parts broken away in horizontal section; and

3,121,404 Patented Fel). 18, 1964 FIGURE 7 is -a fragmentary sectional View of the hopper car and the locking mechanism .taken in the plane indicated by line 7`7 of FIGURE 6.

Describing the linvention in detail `and referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the novel locking mechanfront or first and rear with a rearwardly facing surface engageable with a complementary surface 10 of a latch block or keeper 12 attached as by bolt and nut assemblies 14 (FIG. 2) to a hopper door 16 of a conventional railway hopper are operatively bearing portion opening 26 of a bracket 28 secured position to hold the latch 2 in facing surface 48 at the forward edge of the slot 44.

The actuator 24 comprises a socket S0 to receive a The latch operator 57 also comprises an yarm 70l having a lug 72 engageable with the rear arm 6 in locked posi- .tion of locking mechanism and engageable with front arm 4 when rotation of eccentric 66 has moved the latch 2 to a forward position as hereinafter described.

In assembling the novel device, the locking mechanism is rigidly iixed to the wall 20 in any desired manner as by rivets 30 and 64, and the keeper 12 is moveably attached by bolt and nut assemblies 14 (FIG. 2) to the bar 42 with the upper web 36 of the keeper slide-ably engaged with the underside of bar 42.

The l-atch lug 8 is then engaged with the keeper surface 1Q, and thereafter the actuator 24 is rotated to move the latch 2 to fully locked position, but with the door 16 slightly open, as shown in FIGURE 2.

A wedge 74 is then inserted into lthe slot 44 with converging surfaces of the wedge engaging keeper surface 48 and a forwardly facing surface 49 of bar 42. The wedge is then driven to the position shown in FGURE 1 whereat the door is locked in its fully closed position, whereupon the keeper 12 is welded to the bar 42. The assemblies 14 are then preferably removed and are replaced by rivets 76 (fFIG. l).

It will be understood that lthe boss 46 affords a gen-` erous bearing surface for the wedge 74 as it is driven by a hammer or similar tool to the position o-f i IGURE 1, and the elongated holes 43 permit the keeper 12 to shift and pull the door to its fully closed position as the wedge 74 is driven to the position of FGURE 1.

After the keeper 12 has been xedly attached to the door 16 as heretofore described, the door can be opened by rotating actuator 24 to a position whereat the eccentric 6K6 of latch operator 57 moves the latch 2 to a forward position, thereby moving 'the door 16 to a slightly open position. Continued rotation of the actuator 24 in the same direction causes latch operator lug 72 to engage the front arm 4 of latch 2 rotating the latter in a clockwise direction as seen in FIGURES l 'and 7 -until hook 8 is released from the keeper surface whereupon the door 16 may freely swing to -fully open position.

When the actuator 24 is released, the latch 2 is rotated by a counterweight 78 on the rear arm 6 to a position whereat hook 8 may reengage Vthe keeper surface 18 when the door is pushed or kicked toward its closed position. Thereafter the actuator 24 may be rotated in reverse direction until eccentric 66 has pulled the latch 2 and the door 16 to the fully closed position shown in FIGURES 1 and 7. The manner in which the keeper 12 is attached to the door 16, as heretofore described, ensures that the eccentric 65 when rotated in this manner will always pull the door tto a tightly closed position.

' Thus it will be understood that the invention comprehends a novel means for assembling a hopper door and its locking mechanism quickly and efliciently and with a single adjustment which ensures that whenever the door is engaged with the locking mechanism and the latter is actuated to locked position, the door will be tightly closed. The invention also includes a novel keeper having means for movable attachment to the door and having an abutment facing the door abutment, so that both yabutrnents are engageable with a wedge 74 for the purpose hereto-fore described.

After the wedge has been driven to the position of FIGURE 1, and the keeper has been welded and riveted to fixed permanent position on the door, the wedge may be removed if desired, or may be welded to the bar 42 and keeper 12 to reinforce the connection therebetween.

While the present invention has been explained and described with reference to specific embodiments of structure, it will be understood, nevertheless, that numerous modifications Iand Variations are susceptible of being incorporated without departure from the essential spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, it is not intended for an understanding of this invention to be limited by the foregoing description nor by the Lillustrations in the annexed i drawings, except as indicated in the hereinafter appended claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. In a hopper structure for a railway hopper car, the structure having an outlet opening and a door pivoted at its upper edge to the structure and positioned to close the opening, the door having a keeper support secured to and projecting outwardly from the door adjacent its distal edge,-and a door locking mechanism for the door having a bearing bracket secured to the hopper structure, an

eccentric pivotally mounted in the bracket, a latch jour-V naled on the eccentric for pivotal movement and for lengthwise movement relative to the hopper structure, y.the latch having first and second arms extending away from the eccentric with the rst arm having a hooked outer end adapted to engage a keeper on the distal edge of the door and the second arm having a counterweight on its outer end, means on the eccentric engageable with the latch for pivoting the latter, and me-ans connected to the eccentric for actuating the latch between door locking and door release positions; the temporary combination therewith of an integral keeper having a latch engaging'.

surface thereon, a mounting web, elongated apertures in said web, a transverse slot in said web at the end of the keeper opposite said latch engaging surface, and `a boss on the outer edge of said transverse slot, securing means extending through said elongated apertures in said .web

, and apertures in the keeper support aligned therewith,

said securing means snugly and slidably securing said mounting web of said keeper to the keeper support, and a wedge projecting into said slot and bearing against said boss and the outer edge of the keeper support while the hooked end ofthe iirst latch arm is in engagement with said latch engaging surface on said keeper so as firmly to hold the door in locked position. v

, 2. The combination claimed in claim 1 wherein said securing means comprise nut and bolt assemblies.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 964,789 Kozlowski July 19, 1910 1,374,731 Hage Apr. l2, 1921 1,563,667 Smith Dec. l1, 1925 1,699,860 Suckeld Ian. 22, 1929 1,869,815 Katz Aug. 2, i932 2,058,018 Holmes Oct. 20, 1936 2,132,590 Waterman Oct. 1,1, 1938 2,482,516 Sheesley Sept. 20, 1949 2,533,396 Payne Dec. 12, 1950 2,604,347 Snyder July 22, 1952 2,641,199 Dorey June 9, 1953 2,684,645 Shaver et al Ian. 27, 1954 2,730,966 Dorey Ian. 17, 1956 2,962,982 Vlirle Dec. 6, 1960 2,962,983 Ingram et al. Dec. 6, 1960 

1. IN A HOPPER STRUCTURE FOR A RAILWAY HOPPER CAR, THE STRUCTURE HAVING AN OUTLET OPENING AND A DOOR PIVOTED AT ITS UPPER EDGE TO THE STRUCTURE AND POSITIONED TO CLOSE THE OPENING, THE DOOR HAVING A KEEPER SUPPORT SECURED TO AND PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM THE DOOR ADJACENT ITS DISTAL EDGE, AND A DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM FOR THE DOOR HAVING A BEARING BRACKET SECURED TO THE HOPPER STRUCTURE, AN ECCENTRIC PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN THE BRACKET, A LATCH JOURNALED ON THE ECCENTRIC FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT AND FOR LENGTHWISE MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO THE HOPPER STRUCTURE, THE LATCH HAVING FIRST AND SECOND ARMS EXTENDING AWAY FROM THE ECCENTRIC WITH THE FIRST ARM HAVING A HOOKED OUTER END ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A KEEPER ON THE DISTAL EDGE OF THE DOOR AND THE SECOND ARM HAVING A COUNTERWEIGHT ON ITS OUTER END, MEANS ON THE ECCENTRIC ENGAGEABLE WITH THE LATCH FOR PIVOTING THE LATTER, AND MEANS CONNECTED TO THE ECCENTRIC FOR ACTUATING THE LATCH BETWEEN DOOR LOCKING AND DOOR RELEASE POSITIONS; THE TEMPORARY COMBINATION THEREWITH OF AN INTEGRAL KEEPER HAVING A LATCH ENGAGING SURFACE THEREON, A MOUNTING WEB, ELONGATED APERTURES IN SAID WEB, A TRANSVERSE SLOT IN SAID WEB AT THE END OF THE KEEPER OPPOSITE SAID LATCH ENGAGING SURFACE, AND A BOSS ON THE OUTER EDGE OF SAID TRANSVERSE SLOT, SECURING MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID ELONGATED APERTURES IN SAID WEB AND APERTURES IN THE KEEPER SUPPORT ALIGNED THEREWITH, SAID SECURING MEANS SNUGLY AND SLIDABLY SECURING SAID MOUNTING WEB OF SAID KEEPER TO THE KEEPER SUPPORT, AND A WEDGE PROJECTING INTO SAID SLOT AND BEARING AGAINST SAID BOSS AND THE OUTER EDGE OF THE KEEPER SUPPORT WHILE THE HOOKED END OF THE FIRST LATCH ARM IS IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID LATCH ENGAGING SURFACE ON SAID KEEPER SO AS FIRMLY TO HOLD THE DOOR IN LOCKED POSITION. 